Everything was closing in on Ray Rice, and the Ravens let him go. They had to. They had no choice.

By midday, one Ravens player said that many on the team had seen the latest video, the one depicting what happened between Rice and his then-fiancee Janay Palmer inside the elevator in February.  What was becoming clear was not only the outrage from the attack's viciousness—but also that Rice had misled them.

According to the player, Rice told teammates that he had no choice but to defend himself that day in the elevator. Then the video emerged, via TMZ—and told a different story.